Running through the center of Toronto between the Prince Edward Viaduct and Mount Pleasant Cemetery is the Don Valley, an ecologically diverse landscape with industrial developments along its passage. Don Valley Brick Works, a once prominent brickyard in operation from 1889 to 1984, fell into disrepair in the 1980s, and it wasn’t until Evergreen, a community group, began work on the site in 1991 that the Lower Don Watershed started renewing itself. By 2006, a farmer’s market moved into the area, and in 2008, Evergreen broke ground with Diamond Schmitt Architects to build the award-winning Centre for Green Cities, which contributes to the area’s historic roots, exemplifying sustainability in an urban context. Completed in 2010, the site aims for LEED Platinum certification, and in 2012, the project won the Green Design Award from the City of Toronto Green Toronto Awards, the SAB Canadian Green Building Award from Sustainable Architecture & Building Magazine (SABMag), and Green Building of the Year from the NAIOP. See all photos below.

Centre for Green Cities, Toronto

Centre for Green Cities, Toronto

Centre for Green Cities, Toronto

Centre for Green Cities, Toronto